In unified messaging (UM) (FIG. 1), for example, an individual's different messaging systems—voice 10, fax 12, email 14, text 16, video 18, etc.—are consolidated in a single repository 20. The individual can access the messages through a remote UM messaging server 26 using different modes, for example, through the Internet 31 from a web browser 28 of a computer 22 or by a dial-up call 32 from a telephone 24.
In the case of computer access, text messages are downloaded and displayed to the user. Voice messages are downloaded to the computer and rendered as digitized sound (e.g., .WAV) files or streamed to the computer (using streaming media server software from companies like Real.com and Shoutcast) and performed using real-time media playing software 30. The user can reply to a message or generate a new message by sending an email. An Internet-enabled computer may also access a UM server using instant messaging (IM) applications or voice-over-IP/Internet telephony.
In the case of telephone access, after a user's validation code is authenticated in response to the user interactively keying or speaking the code, the UM server plays back his messages. Voice messages are played back as originally recorded, and text messages (email, SMS, instant messaging, faxes) are played back by a text-to-speech voice synthesis engine 29. An individual can reply to a message or generate a new message by placing a voice call.
Access to the messages in a repository can also be obtained at a user's fax machine or networked printer 36. The user registers the fax machine or networked printer with the UM message server, which then spools his text messages to the machine or printer. Voice messages can either be elided or automatically transcribed to text using a speech recognition system 31. The fax machine and the networked printer 36 provide only a unidirectional or read-only access mode, unlike the web browser 28 and the telephone 24.
An advantage of using a computer rather than a telephone to access messages is that the user sees his email messages, rather than only hearing them. When viewing a text message, he can scroll backward and forward through the message, re-read parts of the message, skip over uninteresting parts, pause to show the message to someone else, and so on. This flexibility is more difficult to provide when accessing text messages through a voice-only interface. Typical voice interfaces read every word of an email, for example, even a CC list, which could contain many names.
The advantages of both computer and phone message accessing are becoming available through integrated devices such as mobile phones equipped with Internet browsers. Such phones can interact with web servers using standard hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), but their small screens are capable of displaying only a small amount of information. The phones also typically have limited memory capability, limited bandwidth, and cannot render some common types of files in their native formats, for example, HTML, GIF, JPEG, MPEG, WAV, PDF, MSWord, PowerPoint, and Excel.